Reception Class

EYFS Curriculum Key

January 2026 Round-up

What a great start to the new year we’ve had in Reception! January has been filled with curiosity, creativity and confidence as the children have returned ready to learn, explore and challenge themselves.

CL - This month we’ve been developing our knowledge of people, their roles and where they are based in our community. The children have loved asking and answering thoughtful questions about everyday superheroes and the people who help us. Our key text has been A Superhero Like You by Dr Ranj, which has inspired lots of big dreams and exciting conversations about what the children might like to be when they grow up. You can listen to the author here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7NTYb9BWR0 Ask your child what role they would choose and how they could help others in their future job.

PD - Our first PE unit has taken us on an adventure into space, inspired by Oliver Jeffers’ stories. The children have been climbing high to 'reach the stars' and developing their fundamental movement skills through running, jumping, catching, hopping and throwing. We’ve also enjoyed mini 'gym workouts' while waiting for turns on the equipment, helping us to build strong core muscles that support good posture and develop control for confident handwriting.

PSE - This half term, the children are learning why we have rules, how to communicate effectively with others, and the importance of perseverance when faced with challenges. We’ve been practising simple grounding and coping strategies and introducing powerful vocabulary such as 'determined' and 'persistent'. At Team Baines, we don’t say “we can’t do it” - we say, “we can’t do it… yet!”

L - There’s been real magic in the air since returning after Christmas, and the progress in the children’s writing has been wonderful to see. We’ve been focusing on orally composing a caption before writing it and holding a simple word or phrase in memory while writing. The children are taking great pride in the layout of their phonics and English books. You can see our handwriting and presentation progression here: https://www.bainesendowed.lancs.sch.uk/page/handwriting-and-presentation/162534

M - In maths, we’ve been exploring how numbers beyond 5 have a '5 and a bit' structure, helping the children to understand number composition. We practise showing numbers 1-10 on our fingers and are working hard to learn our number bonds to 5 off by heart. You might enjoy singing songs such as Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer or Five Little Speckled Frogs together at home to support this learning. You can find these here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/z6qgscw

UTW - Our space theme continued as we explored the solar system and learned the names of the planets. We were especially excited by the Mad Science assembly, which sparked conversations about scientists and the important roles they play. We’ve also been observing the effects of different weather conditions and experiencing the natural world through our senses, exploring how nature changes as the seasons move on.

EAD - The children created amazing Kandinsky-inspired artwork, using circles and abstract shapes that led to lots of discussions about stars and planets. We’ve also painted colourful self-portraits, experimenting with what happens when different paint colours mix. The results were very cute - can you spot your child in the photos below?

December 2025 Round-up

What a sparkly month! December has been filled with all the glitter and magic you’d expect when you’re 4 or 5 years old at Team Baines. I imagine we now have lots of tired Reception children who are more than ready for the Christmas break! The children have fully embraced all the festive fun we’ve had to offer, making it a truly magical end to their first term of school.

CL - “We’d like to tell you a story… would you like to hear it?” Storytelling has been wonderful this month. The children have learned the Christian story of the first Christmas and can confidently retell it in their own words and even sing songs about the characters too! We’ve shared many Christmas-themed books during our daily story times. With the twinkly lights on and everyone settled, it has become one of our favourite parts of the day.

PD - December dancing was the plan… and December dancing we certainly did! Thank you to everyone who came to watch our nativity A Miracle in Town! The children truly did sparkle and shine. You can catch a highlights video over on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1B1U1Q93MV/

PSE - In PSHE, we have discussed how important it is to help, listen to and support others when working as part of a team. We’ve also focused on the importance of telling the truth. The children really enjoyed the story Finn’s Little Fibs and exploring the message behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99U3b021C9o These discussions have supported the children in building strong friendships and developing empathy and honesty.

L - Take a moment to look at the wonderful writing in the photographs below. The children have amazed us this term with their progress in writing. They are ensuring their letters are cursive with a lead-in, remembering correct formation phrases and keeping letters sitting neatly on the line. The children are using their phonics fingers to segment and write CVC words - we are on a roll with our writing!

M - In Maths, we’ve been busy exploring numbers in festive ways! The children have been counting, ordering numbers and matching numerals to quantities, as well as exploring colour, shape and pattern through Christmas-themed provision. We’ve also explored the composition of 4 and 5, learning how numbers can be made in different ways. Ask your child if they can talk to you about the Stampolines they made in class - you might enjoy watching the Numberblocks episode together to jog their memory :
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08dnngm/numberblocks-series-1-stampolines

UTW - December has given us lots of opportunities to learn about the world around us. We’ve explored the Christian celebration of Christmas, discussed family traditions and talked about how people celebrate in different ways. The children have also enjoyed seasonal changes, we've been scientists noticing the weather and talking about Winter.

EAD - Glitter, sequins, glue and creativity have been in abundance! The children have loved creating festive artwork and decorations, which you’ll be able to collect and take home at our Homework Celebration event. We even teamed up with Year 6 for a Christmas crafting afternoon, which was a lovely opportunity to work together across the school. Through singing, dancing, role play and music, the children have expressed themselves with confidence and enthusiasm - spreading Christmas cheer wherever they go!

Thank you for all your support in remembering party days, costumes, Christmas jumpers and all the festive chaos that December brings - we truly couldn’t do it without the support of our wonderful families. A big thank you to Mrs Bannister and Miss Millwood, who have supported Reception class over the last few weeks. We are pleased to welcome teaching assistants, Miss Lang and Mrs Bailey to the EYFS team in the new year.

Have a fabulous festive break and make lots of special memories - they don’t stay little for long! 🎄✨

November 2025 Round-up

November marked the beginning of our second half term in Reception and introduced our new topic, People and Parties. Throughout the month, the children have been learning about how we all have different beliefs, celebrations and special times, and they have spent lots of time thinking about the perspectives of others and how different people celebrate in their own ways.

CL - The children have been retelling familiar stories, using story language confidently, listening carefully and responding to comprehension questions with increasing understanding.

PD - Our PE focus this half term is dance. The children have been exploring different movements, sequencing steps, and creating simple routines to music. We have discovered some incredible performers in Reception! Nativity rehearsals for ‘A Miracle in Town!’ are well underway, and we are very excited to join with Year 1 and Year 2 to put on a fantastic Christmas show. Make sure you have secured your tickets - you're in for a treat!

PSE - In November, Reception learned about Remembrance Day, the significance of the poppy, and why people take time to remember those who help keep our world safe. We have also been discussing the special people in our lives, thinking about why families and important people are valuable, and developing our understanding of similarities and differences. The children have been practising sharing, cooperating and recognising themselves as unique and important individuals.

L - The children have now completed Phase 2 phonics, and we encourage you to keep revisiting the graphemes and digraphs in your blue homework books. Our goal is for every child to be confidently blending CVC words by Christmas. Thank you to all families who attended the phonics meeting - please continue practising oral blending at home and support your child in using their phonics fingers to segment for spelling.

M - In maths, the children have begun exploring the composition of numbers by looking closely at wholes and parts. The children have discovered that smaller numbers can be ‘hiding’ inside larger ones. Subitising has become a favourite part of our lessons, and we love asking “What do you notice?” as the children perceptually and conceptually recognise amounts within five depending on different arrangements.

UTW - As part of our enriched curriculum, we took part in the school’s Great Britain Day. Reception enjoyed learning about London, thinking about where we live and discussing what it means to be part of a kingdom ruled by a king or queen. We also celebrated King Charles III’s birthday, and the children have lots to say about how we marked the occasion. A highlight of the month was our first external visit to St John’s Church, where Rev Kathryn gave us a tour and shared a Christian perspective on the first Christmas.

EAD - Glitter season is officially upon us, and the children have been extremely busy in the art room creating all kinds of beautiful decorations. They have thrown themselves into festive creativity, and we can’t wait to share photos of how magical our school looks. Our Christmas fairies have certainly been hard at work behind the scenes, transforming the building into a winter wonderland just in time for December.

As we come to the end of a wonderful month of learning and lovely memories, we are also saying goodbye to our wonderful teaching assistant, Miss Singleton. She is leaving Team Baines to begin an exciting new business venture, and we wish her every success in the future. We hope she’ll pop back to see us soon - she will be very missed by us all.

October 2025 Round-up

What a wonderful first half term it has been in Reception! The children have settled beautifully into school life, making new friends, learning classroom routines, and growing in confidence each day. Enjoy looking through the photos together below and discuss each area of learning with your child to see what they can remember. As we say frequently in class, we go over our learning again and again “so we don’t forget!”

CL - The children have loved participating in Drawing Club, exploring a new focus book each week and learning lots of exciting new vocabulary to add to our working wall. We’ve been learning definitions for each new word and attaching an action to help us remember them - ask your child to show you one of our “get up, stand up, vocabulary!” actions!

PD - We’ve been strengthening our core muscles through lots of large movement activities, helping to prepare our bodies for writing. Our classroom is full of fine motor opportunities too - threading, cutting, weaving, and playdough all help to get our fingers flexible. We’re also working hard on independence by learning to dress ourselves, fasten our coats, and manage our shoes and wellies by ourselves.

PSE - We’ve completed our unit 'Self Regulation: My Feelings', learning how to identify and name our emotions, recognise how they might feel in our bodies, and associate feelings with different colours. The children have explored facial expressions, learned emotional vocabulary, and talked about how storybook characters might be feeling. Together, we created our very own Calm Corner - a special space where the children can go to take a breath, reflect, and use the coping strategies we’ve practised to help manage their emotions.

L - We’re well underway with Phase 2 Phonics, learning new GPCs and building a bank of phonics games to help embed our learning. The children are learning to blend sounds to read CVC words and are starting to apply their phonics in early writing. Ask your child which phonics game is their favourite! Look out for our Autumn 2 Phonics Meeting for parents, where we’ll share how we teach early reading and writing in Reception.

M - Our maths learning this half term has focused on developing strong number sense. The children have learned to subitise (recognise quantities without counting) within 3 and to spot sub-groups in larger arrangements. We’ve explored patterns within 4, practised using fingers to represent quantities, and even begun subitising sounds and movements! The children have been counting in sequence through songs and rhymes, using 1:1 correspondence to count accurately. We’ve also compared sets of objects, using the language of ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’, and ‘equal to’, and found that sometimes we can compare ‘just by looking’!

UTW - We’ve begun to lay the foundations for history by learning about the days of the week, using our visual timetable, and exploring what it means when we talk about things that have happened in the past. In our outdoor classroom and forest school sessions, we’ve been investigating seasonal changes, noticing how Autumn brings falling leaves, colder weather, and darker evenings. We’ve talked about how some trees change across the four seasons and learned that the weather changes throughout the year. In RE, we’ve been sharing stories and discussions about our families, learning that while all families are special, each one is unique and different.

EAD - We couldn’t be prouder of the children for their singing during our poetry performance event, where they stood on the big stage and performed Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer! The children have been expressing themselves through art, music, and imaginative play.

So much fun and learning have filled these first eight weeks of school! We hope we’ve sparked a lifelong love of learning, and we can’t wait to see what magic awaits us in Autumn 2.

September 2025 Round-up

We hope this page helps jog your little learner’s memory and prompts them to share all the exciting things they’ve been doing in school.

Our first topic is ‘Marvellous Me!’ and we’ve really enjoyed getting to know each other while celebrating the many ways we are all unique.

CL - We’ve been busy talking, chatting, and making new friends during our settling-in activities. The children have also met Tony the Tiger, who joins us for circle time. Tony helps us remember to be respectful listeners by keeping our eyes on the speaker.

PD - The children have had so many opportunities to get active and strengthen their gross motor skills. Each Monday, we are joined by sports coaches Jamie and Aaron from Fleetwood Town Community, who lead our balance bike sessions. The children are growing in confidence, developing their core strength, balance, and hand–eye coordination. They have also loved taking part in PE lessons. Our first unit introduces the 'Lancashire 5 under 5' – a framework for developing fundamental movement skills (FMS). These focus on teaching children how to run, hop, jump, throw (both underarm and overarm), and catch.

PSE - This half term, our focus text is The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. We’re learning to explore and understand our feelings - identifying when we may be feeling something, and learning how to communicate and cope with our emotions. The children love our class meditation sessions and are becoming confident in using the calm corner in our classroom.

L - We’ve begun our Red Rose phonics lessons – the games bring so much joy and laughter to our classroom. Can you spot Mr Crocodile in the photos below? As the children are introduced to new phonemes, we also practise forming the cursive graphemes. We’ve done lots of mark making with different media and we’re getting to grips with the pinch of a tripod grasp.

M - Our Maths lessons are linked to The Numberblocks. We’ve focused on numbers 1, 2, and 3 – learning when a set can be subitised and when careful counting is needed. We’re also beginning to spot smaller numbers ‘hiding’ inside larger numbers.

UTW - What an exciting time of year to be exploring the world around us! We’ve loved noticing the change in seasons during forest school sessions and have had so much fun playing with autumnal treasures in our outdoor classroom too.

EAD - We have such a musical class this year! Our children are amazing singers and our classroom is often filled with nursery rhymes. In the art room, we’ve been busy creating all sorts of crafts and each child has drawn a wonderful self-portrait for our gallery wall.

July 2025 Round-up

June 2025 Round-up

Our topic for Summer 2 is 'Everyone Explore', Reception have loved discovering what life's like in different places around the world. No doubt you've all got the seven continents song going round and round in your heads!

CL - Reception have been talking about the similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on their personal experiences, knowledge from stories and non-fiction texts and observations of maps. The new wall graphics in the hall helped us with this.

PD - In PE this half term, we're consolidating the fundamental movement skills we've been working on all year. We're also busy working on a nursery rhyme dance unit. Mr Aspden arranged a fun 'Health Week' for us all and we took part in ultimate frisbee, UV dodgeball, Taekwondo and our very first Sports Day.

PSE - In our PSHE lessons, we've discussed how we look after our wellbeing through exercise, meditation and eating a balanced diet. We're all independent learners who can manage our own hygiene needs and understand the importance of making healthy choices.

L - The children have wowed us with their sentence writing in preparation for Year One. We know that every super sentence should be spoken aloud first, begin with a capital letter, have letters formed correctly (sitting on the line), we use our phonics to help us segment to spell, add a finger space between words, finish it all off with a full stop and read it back to check it makes sense! There's so much to remember, but we're practicing lots and enjoying writing for many different purposes.

M - We've been doing lots of counting beyond 20 in Maths, spotting number patterns including double facts and whether numbers are odd, or even. The children love saying. . . "Oohh, that's odd!" when a quantity can't be shared into two equal groups.

UTW - We took our learning outside the classroom with a class trip to Blackpool Zoo. We've been scientists in forest school, making boats to experiment with different materials and their properties, testing which float and which sink. The children have been busy helping Mrs Mylecraine with her planting, and we're excited to find out the results of the Wyre in Bloom competition.

EAD - We walked to Thornton Library and joined 'Mama G' for an exciting session of songs and stories, encouraging us to take pride in who we are. A big thank you to Francis from Lancashire Music Service for our fun lessons on the djembe drums.

May 2025 Round-up

Our topic for Summer 1 was 'Amazing Animals' and our little learners have had so much fun learning and playing.

CL - We've been retelling the story What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson, the children were fantastic performing in front of the whole school and their friends and families in our class assembly.

PD - We've enjoyed lots of indoor and outdoor PE lessons, experimenting with moving our bodies like farm, ocean and zoo animals.

PSE - Our discussions taught us that we all have different beliefs and celebrations, what characteristics make a good friend, and how we need to listen to one another.

L - The class are well underway with Phase 4 phonics, reading longer words, compound words and words with suffixes -ing and -ed. You can find a list of Tricky words here: Tricky Words The children have discovered lots of new vocabulary and fun facts reading both fiction and non-fiction texts about animals.

M - EYFS are working on the composition of numbers, we're aiming to know our number bonds to 5 (and some to 10) off by heart.

UTW - I wonder what your child can remember about Mary Anning? The children loved learning about dinosaurs and fossils. We had a video call with Farmer Rachel which helped us learn where our food comes from.

EAD - The children will soon be brining home their amazing clay animal sculptures! They've worked so hard to design, plan and create them.